This 1969 double-album has been described as both “unlistenable” and “one of the greatest albums of all time.” We discuss its volatile production while trying to understand its composition and how it influenced another fifty years of weird music.

Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:

• Trout Mask Replica

Additional Resources:

• Some notes came from secondary sources listing Mike Barnes’ ‘Captain Beefheart’ and Bill Harkleroad’s ‘Lunar Notes: Zoot Horn Rollo’s Captain Beefheart Experience’ 
• Burundo Drumbi! – John French’s Series of Q&As, 2000/1
• Captain Beefheart, a.k.a. Don Van Vliet, dies at 69
• AllMusic Review by Steve Huey
• The Case for Why Captain Beefheart’s Awful Sounding Album, Trout Mask Replica, Is a True Masterpiece
• Why this awful-sounding album is a masterpiece
• The Dust Blows Forward: ‘Trout Mask Replica’ at 50
• Why Captain Beefheart’s ‘Trout Mask Replica’ Still Sounds Like Tomorrow
• Frownland by Captain Beefheart & his Magic Band: Analysis